Africa-Press – Eswatini. The wife of a unionist died after she was shot several times while parking her car at her homestead in Nhlangano on Wednesday night.
Tigezile Shongwe-nee Magongo (49), who was a police sergeant stationed at the Nhlangano Police Station was shot before she could alight from the vehicle as she was found with several gunshot wounds in her chest and legs, collapsed in the driver’s seat.
She was the wife to Swaziland Economic Improvement Workers Union (SEIWU) President, Mashumi Shongwe, who is also the mayor of Nhlangano and Eswatini Football Association vice president. According to insiders, Tigezile, was from the 2pm-8pm work shift when she was attacked.
They said her daughter who was inside the house, heard the gunshots and immediately alerted the police who were quick to arrive at the scene but by then, the suspects had disappeared.
They said she was immediately rushed to the Nhlangano Health Centre where she was certified dead.
Neighbours, according to sources, who had previously intervened during attacks on Tigezile, are said to have heard the gunshots but thought it was a drill at the Correctional Services facility, which was close to where she stayed.
“By the time they realised that Tigezile had been shot it was already late as the suspects were nowhere to be found. They suspect that they disappeared on foot as no vehicle was heard driving away, which made them believe that they could have parked elsewhere,” said the sources.
The sources further stated that neighbours reported that during the day they saw two men who kept walking up and down past Tigezile’s homestead but did not pay much attention to them as they thought they were passing by.
However, after the shooting they believe that the men had kept surveillance of the homestead and were the ones behind the shooting and that this was an assassination, which had nothing to do with politics and the recent attacks on State security officers in the country.
This they said was because it was not the first that Tigezile had been attacked and was saved by the timely intervention of her neighbours.
They said leading to this incident, several shots were fired at the homestead on different occasions but no one was injured.
The well-placed sources said on two separate occasions, unknown people had shot directly at the homestead, unfortunately their actions were squashed by neighbours who responded by calling the police. “In another incident, unknown people once gained access to the homestead after they broke a burglar door but fortunately the family was not around.
What made it suspicious was that nothing was stolen, which tells that they were looking for someone,” the sources said. The attack raised a number of questions within the community members as they claimed no one knew if her murder was linked to the previously failed attempts on the family or the current political tensions experienced in the country.
Some of her colleagues decried that she had not relocated to the police camp, where she would have been safer after she was first attacked.
They said they had tried to convince her to move into the police camp but she insisted on staying at her homestead.
The colleagues said they knew about the earlier threats on her life and in all the attempts, the neighbours managed to disturb the people involved, by responding swiftly and calling the police.
A distraught Mashumi confirmed that his wife was murdered. He said he was still confused and had many questions regarding her murder as she was loved by many.
He said even though they were in separation and had not stayed together for the past seven years, he was adamant that she had no enemies who could have wanted her dead.
Mashumi said there were no specific threats, which he knew existed that made him believe that this was planned, adding that he did not why it happened.
He said there were incidents that previously happened in his life, which included the burning of union cars, threats from unknown people and being called a mafia.
“I have never been a mafia. My only crime was to work for Montigny Investments, which was the centre of attraction for political reasons. Other than that there is no other reason I am aware of,” he said. Mashumi further stated that the current political situation in the country made everyone to be a target.
At the time he was called, Mashumi said he was still trying to come to terms with what had happened and also find answers.
Chief Police Information and Communications Officer (PICO) Phindile Vilakati confirmed that 49-year-old woman was shot several times by two unknown men while at Extension 4 in Nhlangano on Wednesday night.
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